Roman Reigns' next appearances on WWE TV have been confirmed. Roman, who has been off WWE TV since defeating LA Knight at Crown Jewel could be back sooner than some fans expected. Let's look at the latest on "The Tribal Chief's" next TV appearances, straight from the WWE's X account: 

This is good news for fans of "The Tribal Chief" who were concerned he might not appear until 2024. While it was believed Roman would be back in time to promote 27 January's Royal Rumble, there was speculation he was done for 2023. This seemed reasonable since Reigns works a very limited schedule.

Change in Plans?

Could Roman's 15 December appearance be a change in plans due to CM Punk's return? If the WWE's narrative of Punk's return being a last-minute deal is true, it could be the WWE asked Reigns to show up earlier to address it (or even set things up for a Punk vs Roman match). However, that seems unlikely (especially if you believe Punk's return was in the works for some time) as the current belief is that CM Punk will wrestle Seth Rollins before he wrestles Roman.

A more likely scenario is that the WWE had this planned all along and it's part of the build for Roman's next opponent at The Royal Rumble. As WrestleLamia discussed in our "Has the Randy Orton Revenge Tour Begun" article, the WWE could be setting things up for a match involving Orton vs Roman (and as discussed in the article, there are several scenarios besides a singles match between "The Viper" and "The Tribal Chief." 

With Randy Orton making it clear that he has some receipts for The Bloodline, it seems likely Roman and Randy will meet in the near future, perhaps even as early as the 15 December SmackDown.

What do you think of this news? What do you think is next for Roman Reigns?